Tuesday, 13 December 2011

The longest
lunar eclipse in over ten years animated the night sky on December 10. The red
hue resulted from the sun's light passing through the earth's atmosphere.
Viewers in Asia had the best view of the total eclipse, while those watching in
Europe saw part of it at moonrise, and North Americans caught part of it as the
moon set. It was not visible in South America or Antarctica. The next total
eclipse will occur in 2014. -- Lane Turner (27 photos total)

The moon casts a reddish hue over Lake Pend
Oreille during a lunar eclipse as it begins to set behind the Selkirk Mountain
Range near Sandpoint, Idaho on December 10, 2011. (Matt Mills McKnight/Reuters)

A
composite of 12 pictures shows a full lunar eclipse over the skies in Hefei,
China on December 10, 2011. The moon turns red as the shadow falls on it during
the eclipse. (Stringer/Reuters)

A
lunar eclipse is seen in the sky beside a statue of Buddha in Kurunegala, Sri
Lanka on December 10, 2011. (Eranga Jayawardena/AP)

A
partial lunar eclipse is seen from the Roman pillars of the Temple of Hercules
in Amman December 2011. (Ali Jarekji/Reuters)

The
earth's shadow falls on the moon as it undergoes a total lunar eclipse viewed
through the arch supports of the Sydney Harbor Bridge December 11, 2011. (Tim
Wimborne/Reuters)

The
Earth casts its shadow across the moon during the lunar eclipse in New Delhi on
December 10, 2011. (Saurabh Das/AP)

A
full moon lunar eclipse passes over Karachi on December 10, 2011. (Asif
Hassan/AFP/Getty Images)

The
moon sets above the Golden Gate Bridge during an eclipse on December 10, 2011,
in San Francisco. (Frederic Larson/San Francisco Chronicle/AP)

The
partially eclipsed moon rises above Cologne on December 10, 2011. Only the end
of the eclipse could be seen in Germany due to the late rise of the moon.
(Kaiser Henning/AFP/Getty Images)

As
dawn breaks over the tall ships at the San Diego, Calif. Maritime Museum, the
setting moon begins to emerge from Earth's shadow following a total eclipse on
December 10, 2011. (Don Bartletti/Los Angeles Times/AP)

This shot was made in St. Petersburg on a very snowy
evening. This is a beautifully illuminated equestrian statue of Peter the
Great, the Russian emperor of the 18th century. The pedestal is a solid boulder
known as the Thunder Stone.

Wednesday, 7 December 2011

Some 100
survivors of the attack on Pearl Harbor will gather in Hawaii today 70 years
after the day which drew the US into World War II. The Japanese air and naval
strike on the American military base claimed nearly 2,400 lives, destroyed over
160 aircraft and beached, damaged or destroyed over 20 ships. President
Franklin D. called it " a date which will live in infamy" when he
addressed the Congress the next day asking to declare war with Japan. --
Lloyd Young (35 photos total)

Eugene
Gorman,92, is a Pearl Harbor survivor. He was a 3rd class petty officer aboard
the USS Hulbert, a sea plane tender at the time of the attack. He made the Navy
a career and retired as a Warrant officer. (Bill Tiernan/Associated Press/The
Virginian-Pilot)

Preston
Parham, 89, is a survivor of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He was aboard the
light cruiser St. Louis. (Bill Tiernan/Associated Press/The Virginian-Pilot)

Lester
A. Silva,88, of Virginia Beach is a Pearl Harbor survivor. He was stationed
aboard the light cruiser USS Detroit at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor.
He suffered a leg wound during the attack. (Bill Tiernan/Associated Press/The
Virginian-Pilot)

Bob
Brunner Sr., 89, of Norfolk, Va., is a Pearl Harbor survivor. He was a
pharmacists mate at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. Brunner spent 21
years in the Navy and retired as a chief corpsman. (Bill Tiernan/Associated
Press/The Virginian-Pilot)

Dean
Griffeth, 94, of Norfolk, Va., is a Pearl Harbor survivor. He spent 30 years in
the Navy and then spent 25 years working at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in
Portsmouth. He was aboard the USS Phelps at the time of the attack. (Bill
Tiernan/Associated Press/The Virginian-Pilot)

Paul
Moore, 90, of Chesapeake,, Va., is a Pearl Harbor survivor. He was a seaman
aboard the battleship West Virginia when it was hit by a Japanese torpedo at
Pearl Harbor. (Bill Tiernan/Associated Press/The Virginian-Pilot)

Ray
Baer, 93, of Norfolk, Va., is a Pearl Harbor survivor. He was a Petty Officer
3rd class at the time of the attack. (Bill Tiernan/Associated Press/The Virginian-Pilot)

Pearl
Harbor veteran Evans Brasset, who was a signalman on the USS Rigel during the
attack, poses for a picture at his home in Harvey, Louisiana. The National
World War II Museum is launching a new exhibit about Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7,
the 70th anniversary of the attack. (Lee Celano/Reuters)

Pearl
Harbor veteran Robert Templet, who was a Radioman 1st Class at Ford Island,
Hawaii during the attack, is seen outside his home in Metairie, Louisiana.
Templet was walking to breakfast on that Sunday, December 7, when he heard a
plane motor surging at his back. He turned and saw the pilot, his goggles atop
his head, smiling down at him before a torpedo fell from the plane's belly.
Stories like Templet's are being documented in "Infamy: December
1941," an exhibit opening on Dec. 7, the 70th anniversary of the Japanese
attack on Pearl Harbor, at the National World War II Museum in New Orleans.
(Lee Celano/Reuters)

Frank A. Chebetar, 90, sits down during a weekly
visit to the Pearl Harbor Memorial at the Joint Expeditionary Base Little
Creek- Fort Story in Virginia Beach, Va. Chebetar, 90, was a ships cook aboard
the destroyer Phelps at the time of the attack on Pearl Harbor. He pays a visit
to the memorial each week to shine the bell. And on this day, he was making
last minute preparations for the annual remembrance ceremony, Dec. 7. (Bill
Tiernan/Associated Press/The Virginian-Pilot)